Fantasia 2019 Reveals Its Full Lineup

As always, we are very excited about this year's Fantasia Fest. If you're a fan of genre films (and I assume you are if you're at this site) it's one of the year's best events. And it doesn't look like this year will be any different. We covered the fest's first wave lineup here. Now the rest has arrived and it's pretty impressive. There's a lot to look forward to here, so let's get right into it:

THE CAMERA LUCIDA SECTION – DECICATED TO BOUNDARY-PUSHING, AUTEUR-DRIVEN GENRE WORKS – UNVEILS ITS FULL LINE-UP!   Blaise Harrison’s enigmatic LES PARTICULES – hot off its bow in the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes – joins the rich tradition of coming-of-age films tinged with the supernatural, mixing the tropes of science-fiction and adolescent drama to better insinuate the otherworldly. P.A., a shy teenager, finds his place with a tight-knit group of friends. One hundred metres below their feet, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) roars. A huge and spectacular machine with cosmic designs. As adolescence and life itself accelerates, one wonders: Is something strange happening… or is this simply what growing up is like?   Nao Yoshigai, one of the most exciting Japanese filmmakers to emerge in recent years, has steadfastly developed a unique, personal, and remarkably coherent universe. Trained as a choreographer and dancer, her films function as fantastical microcosms of mounting intensity, in which the often violent, daring and surprising impulses of the human body and the natural world provide many surprises. NAO YOSHIGAI X 4: OF BLOOMING FLOWERS AND DEAD SKIN – the first retrospective program of her work anywhere in the world – will showcase “Hottamaru Days” (International Premiere), “The Pear and the Fang” (International Premiere), “Stories Floating in the Wind” (Canadian Premiere), and “Grand Bouquet” (Canadian Premiere).     NIGHT GOD. Kazakhstan – Dir. Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Smothered in darkness, the world is slowly descending into chaos. Violent and absurd, crepuscular and hypnotizing, the acclaimed Kazakh auteur’s fifth feature is the assured vision of a waking nightmare. North American Premiere.   AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING. Japan – Dir. Sho Miyake. Tasuku Emoto, Shizuka Ishibashi, and Shota Sometani star in this breezy and languorous coming-of-age film, capturing the strange, uncertain beauty of sleepless nights and restless days in Hakodate, Japan. Canadian Premiere.   LETTERS TO PAUL MORRISSEY. Spain – Dirs. Armand Rovira and Saida Benzal. Five characters in crisis confide in avant-garde master Paul Morrissey, with each segment in this hypnotic collection of black-and-white 16mm filmic correspondences being wildly unique: from druggy and horrific to very intimate. Canadian Premiere.   KOKO-DI KOKO-DA. Sweden – Dir. Johannes Nyholm. What once was is now lost, and Elin and Tobias must relive the same nightmarish events, as that day and the horrors they experienced repeat themselves infinitely. As beautiful as it is horrible: the film portrays grief as a life of its own. Canadian Premiere.   JESSICA FOREVER. France – Dirs. Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. In a dystopian Neverland, Jessica prepares her tribe of lost boys for love and death. Directors Poggi and Vinel, promising paragons of alternative French cinema, unleash a brutal and poised feature debut. Quebec Premiere.   Previously announced titles include Jesus Shows You The Way to the Highway (Spain/Ethiopia/Estonia), dir. Miguel Llanso; Knives and Skin (US), dir. Jennifer Reeder; Ode to Nothing (Philippines), dir. Dwein Ruedas Baltazar; and Maggie (South Korea), dir. Yi Okseop. All titles will compete for the AQCC-Camera Lucida prize, awarded by a jury of critics from the Québec’s Critics Association (AQCC), member of the FIPRESCI.

FANTASIA UNDERGROUND REVEALS FOUR AMAZING INDIE DISCOVERIES   Fantasia’s section dedicated to unconventional outsider visions returns with four left-field works that must be seen to be believed.    The shackles of grief are overwhelming in the dreamy DIY supernatural thriller THE DEEPER YOU DIG (World Premiere). The line between the living and the dead collapses for a mother, daughter, and stranger in the aftermath of a roadside accident. A family affair, the movie was written, directed, and produced by John Adams, Toby Poser, and their daughter, Zelda. They also star, shoot, and compose the film’s score. The intimacy of the production is felt in the immediacy of the performances and the depth of ideas. This journey into the underworld crawls under your skin and draws you into your deepest, darkest nightmares.   At a small New York theatre, an aging magician (Ronald Guttman) comes up with a devilish plan to save his piece of old New York by invoking real black magic. Harsh realities and fantastic illusions come together in BLACK MAGIC FOR WHITE BOYS (International Premiere), SUMMER OF BLOOD / CATFIGHT director Onur Tukel’s latest film is a bizarre comic adventure about gentrification, race, and bodily autonomy in The Big Apple. With over 50 minutes of new footage, Tukel has completely reworked a project initially presented in 2017 as a four-episode series at Tribeca into a gnarly and charmingly weird dark comedy, balancing edgy misanthropy with a strain of silly sweetness. Co-starring Leah Shore and Jamie Block, and shot by TOAD ROAD / FELT director Jason Banker.   Becca rushes to rescue her down-and-out, suicidal brother, Richard, only to find him… and an apartment full of corpses that look just like him. A fun and fearless microbudget feature debut from Montreal-based duo Chris Bavota and Lee Paula Springer (the 2017 short EVEN THE DARKNESS HAS ARMS) DEAD DICKS (World Premiere) is not what it seems. Beneath its gross outs and absurd humour, the film is a sincere reflection on familial drama, dependency, and mental health.   What if SpongeBob had been directed by Canadian experimental master Guy Maddin? The answer lies with director Ryland Brickson Cole Tews and his microbudget creature feature, LAKE MICHIGAN MONSTER (International Premiere). Made with great inventiveness and a love for ’50s B-movies and monster flicks, this is everything indie cinema should be and more. With gritty black-and-white photography, special effects galore, hand-crafted sets and costumes, and jaw-dropping hallucinatory sequences, this charmer won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble in a Feature, and the Audience Award for Best Feature at 2019’s Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival.

WHAT DO FEARLESS PHOTOJOURNALISM, AL ADAMSON, AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS HAVE IN COMMON? DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE!   In addition to the previously announced World Premiere of PHANTOM OF WINNIPEG, Fantasia is proud to announce a trio of extraordinary new features for its Documentaries from the Edge section.   Since she first pointed her lens at the broken remains of a mob victim, Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia has been waging a decades-long battle with the mafia. An official selection at Sundance, Berlin, and Hot Docs, Kim Longinotto’s SHOOTING THE MAFIA (Quebec Premiere) is a moving and inspirational portrait of bravery and self-determination, the story of an ultimate outsider hero who never met a bully she wouldn’t stand up to and whose art remains a finely-honed weapon.   The hilarious history of the Church of the SubGenius, an early-’80s mock religion that challenged the mores and mendacities of its moment, and in no few ways predicted the existential insanity of our own, is explored in Sandy K. Boone’s J.R. “BOB” DOBBS AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS (Canadian Premiere). Featuring mad, mad vintage footage and ample contributions from founders Reverend Ivan Stang, Philo Drummond, and numerous SubGenius participants and devotees, including Richard Linklater, Nick Offerman, Penn Jillette, and Devo’s Gerald Casale.   Years in the making, BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (World Premiere), by Severin Films founder and filmmaker David Gregory (LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU), goes beyond detailing the uncommon life and unthinkable murder of the legendary no-budget exploitation filmmaker. It beautifully captures the worlds of outsider moviemaking communities that existed in California in the ’70s, and the weird ways they intersected with Hollywood mainstream and union indies. On Adamson shoots, regular Orson Welles crew and cinematographers like Gary Graver, Vilmos Szigmond, and Lazlo Kovaks worked alongside John Carradine, Bud Cardos - and at one point - Charles Manson!  This is the story of a resourceful band of outsiders, creatives, and hustlers during a unique period of filmmaking opportunity.

ANIME IN ABUNDANCE IN FANTASIA’S AXIS SECTION THIS SUMMER!   It’s a bumper-crop year for eye-catching anime features from Japan, and Fantasia’s Axis is proud to be presenting many of the very best, most for the first time on North American shores!   From the lively, liberated imagination of Masaaki Yuasa (LU OVER THE WALL, Netflix’s DEVILMAN CRYBABY, the masterful MIND GAME) comes RIDE YOUR WAVE, a film about losing love, leaning on friends, and learning how to find oneself. Yuasa plays with the very elements here: fire, and especially water, are fluid and amorphous… and almost alive. North American Premiere.   Teenager Akane and her daffy aunt Chii step down into the basement — and out of this world! — in THE WONDERLAND, a fantastical anime adventure bursting with imagination, from Keiichi Hara, award-winning director of COLORFUL and MISS HOKUSAI. North American Premiere.   Teenage romance, ontological science fiction, and fierce, acrobatic mecha battles collide in THE RELATIVE WORLDS, the dazzlengly intense feature-film rebuild of his own successful web animation series by digital animator Yuhei Sakuragi (the INGRESS anime, NEON GENESIS IMPACTS). North American Premiere.   Overseen by Katsuyuki Motohiro, a veteran of the FLCL and PSYCHO-PASS franchises, and directed by Fuminori Kizaki (AFRO SAMURAI), HUMAN LOST is a gripping cyberpunk anime thriller, packed with political intrigue, philosophical challenges, savage techno-horror, and exciting action! Canadian Premiere.   Ten years after Atsuya Uki’s amazing half-hour short CENCOROLL World Premiered at Fantasia 2009, the idiosyncratic, surrealist sci-fi teen drama is back with a sequel, making up the feature-length bundle CENCOROLL CONNECT. Casually uncanny and uncommonly cool, this is a true event for fans of offbeat and original anime. Canadian Premiere.   Imbuing the prosaic with something a bit like magic, Yutaka Yamamoto’s crowdfunded indie teen-romance mini-feature TWILIGHT is a postcard from Fukushima Prefecture, with love, laughs, tears, and the occasional perfect moment. International Premiere.   THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE EAST ASSEMBLES SPOOKY ASIAN ANIMATED SHORTS!   Fill your pockets with pujok, omamori, and fu talismans for THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE EAST! It’s Fantasia’s shivery short-film showcase, eleven Asian animated tales of spooks, spirits, monsters, and mystery — a mixed bag of the magical and macabre created through a multitude of techniques, from Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. World Premieres include SHISHIGARI, a calling card (with music by the legendary Kenji Kawai) for the new, independent Studio Durian of Japan’s Kiyotaka Oshiyama.   AN INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE AND MASTER CLASS WITH TOKUSATSU ICON KEITA AMEMIYA    Since the 1980s, Keita Amemiya (ZEIRAM, TWEENY WITCHES) has left his mark in countless corners of the universe of tokusatsu — Japanese science-fantasy cinema and TV. Amemiya-san visits Fantasia this summer to present GARO – UNDER THE MOONBOW, the latest entry his ongoing chronicle of otherworldly conflict. International Premiere.   A prolific director, Amemiya is equally celebrated as a renowned designer of uncanny characters, creatures, and costumes, never lacking for surprising innovation and a self-aware flair that stands out in his field. For his special Fantasia Master Class, Keita Amemiya takes a look at the masks, monsters, and marvels of his imagination!

FANTASIA UNVEILS ITS INCREDIBLE 2019 LIVE EVENTS - FEATURING TALKS, TOURS, CONCERTS, AND MORE!   In addition to its incredible film lineup, Fantasia 2019 is proud to host a number of cinema-centric live events, headlined by a special appearance from legendary film critic and horror host Joe Bob Briggs, a conversation with producer Edward R. Pressman, a bus tour of Montreal’s horror film history, and much more! Previously announced was a special event by Montreal’s Orchestre à Vents de Musiques de Films, performing a live orchestral concert celebrating music from a wide variety of Studio Ghibli classics.   Joe Bob Briggs, who currently hosts The Last Drive-In, will blow the roof of Fantasia’s trailer park with Shudder Presents Joe Bob Briggs Live: How Rednecks Saved Hollywood: an energetic live performance which rockets audiences through decades of gory, sleazy, and just plain awesome exploitation cinema via rapid-fire photos, video clips, and hilarious, informative commentary from America’s favourite horror host.   Iconic producer Edward R. Pressman, who’s created incredible films with everyone from Terrence Malick and Sam Raimi to Zhang Yimou and Brian De Palma, will take part in Edward R. Pressman: Live in Conversation, an intimate onstage interview with critic and professor Donato Totaro, chronicling his career - from CONAN THE BARBARIAN to BAD LIEUTENANT, and everything in-between!   By popular demand, House of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse and Fangoria’s Michael Gingold will host Spectacular Optical and The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies’ Horror Express: The Fantasia Edition: an epic afternoon bus tour of Montreal’s most famous and infamous horror film locations, stopping at ten incredible locales around the city. Expect a day of unforgettable photo ops and amazing horror history from two of the genre’s most brilliant minds.   Gingold, whose Ad Nauseum presentation as last year’s Fantasia was one of the festival’s hottest live events, will also host the book launch for his latest tome, Ad Astra: 20 Years of Newspaper Ads for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films. Join the journalist that Guillermo del Toro called “the torch carrier for the original spirit of a generation of horror, fantasy, and science fiction aficionados” as he takes you through the history of 1980s and '90s sci-fi and fantasy - with the book for sale immediately following the presentation.   Join David Gregory (Severin Films), Nora Mehenni (Arrow Video) and Joe Rubin (Vinegar Syndrome) for Returning Life to the Departed: Adventures in Genre Cinema Restoration, a very special discussion about the trials, thrills, and rewards of digitally restoring everything from obscure treasures to cinematic holy grails - and what it takes to create a film’s definitive home video release.

FANTASIA TO BESTOW ITS INAUGRAL CANADIAN TRAILBLAZER AWARD TO DIRECTOR TED KOTCHEFF   “I am not the judge of my characters. I am their best witness.” – Ted Kotcheff Fantasia will bestow its inaugural Canadian Trailblazer Award to director Ted Kotcheff, a singular filmmaker who has worked across genres and mediums to tell bold, vivid stories with strong points-of-view. Born in Toronto in 1931, he began directing at the CBC at age 24 and was, at the time, the youngest director ever at the station. His filmography includes the Outback thriller WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971), the quintessentiel Montreal film THE APPRENTICEHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ (1974), WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978), NORTH DALLAS FORTY (1979), the Stallone-starring blockbuster FIRST BLOOD (1982), UNCOMMON VALOUR (1983), JOSHUA THEN AND NOW (1985), ‘80s comedy staple WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989), and THE SHOOTER (1995). Mr Kotcheff will be presented his award at a special screening of the Canadian Film Centre’s restoration of THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ. Fantasia will also be screening StudioCanal’s recent restoration of FIRST BLOOD, with Kotcheff in attendance, as part of the festival’s Action! Section lineup.     ADDITIONAL 2019 PREMIERE TITLES INCLUDE:   ALIEN CRYSTAL PALACE. France – Dir. Arielle Dombasle. A crazy scientist is on a quest to create a new, immaculate, androgynous being. Parisian nightlife icon Arielle Dombasle has made a psychotronic big-screen erotic fantasy, a kitsch and camp kaleidoscope, generous, absurd, and genuinely endearing. Co-starring Jean-Pierre Léaud and Asia Argento. North American Premiere.   THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE. USA – Dir: Riley Stearns After being mugged, meek accountant Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) joins a karate school — and his life takes a strange and dark turn. FAULTS director Riley Stearns’ sophomore feature is a twisted tale of the dangers of toxic masculinity. Co-starring Imogen Poots. Official Selection: SXSW 2019. Quebec Premiere.   BLISS. USA – Dir: Joe Begos A drug-fueled night out in LA transforms a young artist into something otherworldly, but is it due to the vampiric ménage à trois she took part in or the cocaine-like "bliss" she's been snorting? ALMOST HUMAN/THE MIND’S EYE director Joe Begos deliver a stunning heavy metal head-trip that's equal parts blissful euphoria and horrifying bloodbath. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019, Cinepocalypse 2019. Canadian Premiere.   CULTURE SHOCK. USA – Dir: Gigi Saul Guerrero Blumhouse's Into the Dark delivers its most impressive film to date, with Gigi Saul Guerrero's scathing takedown of The United States' treatment of Mexican dreamers, where "The Land of the Free" is far from the truth. Featuring Martha Higareda, Shawn Ashmore, and a spine-tingling performance from Fantasia fave Barbara Crampton. Official Selection: Cinepocalypse 2019, Etheria Film Night 2019. International Premiere.   DANCE WITH ME. Japan – Dir. Shinobu Yaguchi Have you ever imagined a musical number spontaneously occurring in real life? Ambitious financier Shizuka has accidentally been hypnotized. Now, a ringing phone or radio jingle will set her off on a Gene Kelly-like rampage… A sassy send-up of musical comedies from Shinobu Yaguchi (SWING GIRLS, ROBO-G) with genuinely catchy, impressive song-and-dance numbers! Official Selection: Shanghai International Film Festival 2019, NY Japan Cuts 2019. Quebec Premiere.   DANIEL ISN’T REAL. USA – Dir: Adam Egypt Mortimer A childhood friend reappearing after a decade seems like it should be cause for celebration... but what happens if it's a troublemaking - and possibly deadly - imaginary friend? This is the conundrum in Adam Egypt Mortimer's clever, violent thriller, whose title isn't as cut and dry as one might first think. Official Selection: South by Southwest 2019, Sydney International Film Festival 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   DARE TO STOP US. Japan – Dir. Kazuya Shiraishi The surprising and utterly unexpected biopic of a legend of Japanese countercultural cinema: Koji Wakamatsu! A film that takes the pulse of a transgressive cinematographic heritage in which sex, violence and revolutionary thought rubbed shoulders on screen. Canadian Premiere.   DAY AND NIGHT. Japan – Dir. Michihito Fujii When Koji, son of a whistleblower driven to suicide, steps outside the law in his quest for justice, the thin line that separates good from evil begins to fray. A suspenseful drama about the tragic fate reserved to whistleblowers that offers a necessary reflection on justice. Official Selection: Japan Filmfest Hamburg 2019. Canadian Premiere.   THE DUDE IN ME. South Korea – Dir. Kang Hyo-jin After an overweight teenager literally falls on him, a gangster realizes to his great dismay that they have swapped bodies. Packed with outlandish twists and turns, this fantasy comedy skilfully juggles gags, action, and emotion! Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   FREAKS. Canada – Dirs: Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein Bruce Dern, Emile Hirsch, and Amanda Crew headline this mind-bending mystery box of a thriller about a young girl (newcomer Lexy Kolker) whose father has convinced her that leaving their suburban home will spell her doom... and when she finally does step outside, she discovers a world unlike anything she - or this film's viewers - would ever believe. Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival 2018. WINNER: Prix Public, Best Feature, Les Utopiales 2018,  Audience Award, Best Film, What the Fest…?! 2019. Quebec Premiere.   GINTAMA 2: RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. Japan – Dir. Yuichi Fukuda The silver-haired samurai Gintoki and his odd-job agency associates are back for this second manga adaptation, with no less loopy lunacy, swashbuckling swordfights, gratuitous anime references, and costume design to die for. Official Selection: Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2019. North American Premiere.   HARD-CORE. Japan – Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita Ukon and Ushiyama discover a discarded robot, unaware of the extent of its potential, in this bizarre science-fiction comedy drama. If you are looking for unusual cinema that makes you laugh without knowing why, you’ve just found it. Never before has the concept of WTF seemed so natural. Official Selection: Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival 2019, Udine Far East Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   HARPOON. Canada – Dir: Rob Grant When a troubled trio of young friends find themselves marooned on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, suspicions and anger bubble to the surface as their faith in each other sinks like a shipwreck. Writer/director Rob Grant returns to Fantasia with thrilling, seafaring suspense film that takes absolutely no prisoners. Starring TURBO KID’s Munro Chambers. Official Selection: Rotterdam International Film Festival 2019, Chattanooga Film Festival 2019, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2019, Fantaspoa 2019, BIFAN 2019. Quebec Premiere.   HIS BAD BLOOD. Japan – Dir. Koichiro Oyama A despicable con artist left the tightly knitted village the day his wife gave birth. 30 years later, his traumatized son is chased because of him. They both end up sheltering in a church, knowing nothing about each other. HIS BAD BLOOD is proof that independent Japanese cinema remains creatively fertile. WINNER: Audience Award, Yubari Fantastic Film Festival 2019. International Premiere.   IT COMES. Japan – Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima Convinced that a supernatural force is threatening his family, Hideki reaches out to a writer specializing in the occult, and his clairvoyant girlfriend to rid himself of the entity. To tell you anything more about this completely bonkers horror tale would ruin the many surprises waiting within. Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival 2019, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   JUDY AND PUNCH. Australia – Dir: Mirrah Foulkes Village puppeteers Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman) are at the eye of this whirlwind of black comedy, filled with slapstick violence and, amid the theatricality of the marionette show, gripping drama. An old morality play with a modern twist. Official Selection: Sundance 2019. Canadian Premiere.   THE LODGE. UK/USA – Dirs: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Hailed at Sundance as “the next great horror film,” this nerve-shredding story of inexplicable, terrifying things happening to a snowed-in family stars Riley Keough, Richard Armitage, and Alicia Silverstone. This is a film whose horrors are both intellectual and deeply visceral, with imagery that will have your heart in your throat. From the makers of GOODNIGHT MOMMY. Official Selection: Sundance 2019, Karlovy Vary 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   MIRACLE OF THE SARGASSO SEA. Greece/Germany/Netherlands/Switzerland – Dir: Syllas Tzoumerkas After a shocking death rocks a sun-bleached village, two women’s destinies interlock and their grip on reality start to slip. This work of New Weird Greek Wave cinema, starring Angeliki Papoulia (DOGTOOTH, ALPS), blends the blood-spattered real world and the troubling nightmares of legend. Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   MISS AND MRS. COPS. South Korea – Dir. Jung Da-won There are a lot of badass lady cops in Seoul, and they're all ready to prove their worth and kick some scumbag ass! Remember the buddy cop movie? Writer-director Jung Da-won has magically resurrected it in fantastic fashion. Quebec Premiere.   MISSBEHAVIOR. Hong Kong – Dir. Pang Ho-Cheung A terrible mistake reunites a gang of estranged drama queens in search of human breast milk throughout Hong Kong! An utterly ridiculous, hilarious, and politically incorrect comedy caper from Pang Ho-Cheung (VULGARIA, DREAM HOME). Official Selection: Osaka Asian Film Festival 2019. Quebec Premiere.   THE ODD FAMILY: ZOMBIE ON SALE. South Korea – Dir. Lee Min-jae The eccentric Park family captures Zzongbie, a harmless living corpse who also happens to be a walking dose of Viagra. This South Korean Zom-com has a ball reanimating the done-to-death conventions of the zombie flick. Official Selection: Udine Far East Film Festival 2019, New York Asian Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   PARADISE HILLS. Spain – Dir: Alice Waddington Amid rapturous production design, Emma Roberts, Awkwafina, Eiza González, and Danielle Macdonald gather under the cold eye of headmistress Milla Jovovich in this genre-bending allegory about femininity and social norms. With shades of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and THE HANDMAID’S TALE, this soft and beguiling nightmare is about the cost of living the life you choose, rather than the life that is expected. Official Selection: Sundance 2019. Canadian Premiere.   PORNO. USA – Dir: Keola Racela Trapped in a cinema late at night, five sex-starved religious teens are easy prey for a succubus with lust and murder in mind, but these Bible-thumpers won’t give up without a fight... even when this ‘90s-set retro riot has their balls literally to the wall. Official Selection: South by Southwest 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   THE PURITY OF VENGEANCE. Denmark – Dir: Christoffer Boe Packed with crime, sex, and revenge - as well as being the highest-grossing film in Danish cinema history - this uber-blockbuster based on the book by Jussi Adler-Olsen finds two detectives trying to unravel a violent, decades-old murder mystery as they struggle with their own fraught relationship. From the director of BEAST and OFFSCREEN. Official Selection: Sitges 2018, Transylvania International Film Festival 2019, Palm Springs International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   SWALLOW. USA – Dir: Carlo Mirabella-Davis Meek housewife Hunter (an utterly terrific Haley Bennett) struggles to find purpose and meaning - until she begins swallowing a variety of household objects. A film that will pique anxieties and turn stomachs, this is a surprisingly tender look at the echoes of abuse. See this one at all costs or miss one of the most potent works of the year. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2019, Neuchâtel International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.   TOKYO GHOUL ‘S’. Japan – Dir. Kazuhiko Hiramaki Another round of blood and black leather on the midnight streets of Tokyo’s Ward 20! Moody intrigue and twisted terror take hold again in the second live-action adaptation of the immensely popular urban-horror manga. Official Selection: Los Angeles Anime Expo 2019. Canadian Premiere.   WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!. Russia – Dir: Kirill Sokolov All holy household hell breaks loose in a single, ever-more-battle-scarred Moscow apartment. Kirill Sokolov’s attention-grabbing debut feature is a sure-footed synthesis of suspense, dark comedy, and deranged, detail-oriented ultraviolence. Sokolov is ruthlessly deliberate in his decisions, be it the pressure-cooker dialogue, the cunning camera work, or the piquant colour scheme. Official Selection: Tallinn Black Nights 2018, What the Fest…?! 2019, Cinepocalypse 2019. Canadian Premiere.   THE WRATH. South Korea – Dir. Yoo Young-seon A powerful family’s lineage is threatened by the spirit of a wailing woman haunting their lands. This straight-up horror film set in medieval Korea recalls the glory days of VHS, dishing out enough jump scares to rouse the dead. Canadian Premiere.   2019 CHEVAL NOIR COMPETITION TITLES AND JURIES ARE ANNOUNCED   Fantasia is pleased to announce the 2019 Cheval Noir competition titles:   8. South Africa – Dir. Harold Holscher   ALMOST A MIRACLE. Japan – Dir. Yuya Ishii   ANOTHER CHILD. South Korea – Dir. Kim Yoon-seok   BLOOD ON HER NAME. USA – Dir. Matthew Pope   THE FATHER’S SHADOW. Brazil – Dir. Gabriela Amaral Almeida   IDOL. South Korea -– Dir. Lee Su-jin   THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WKND. Spain – Dir. Jon Mikel Caballero   IT COMES. Japan – Dir.Tetsuya Nakashima   KINGDOM. Japan – Dir. Shinsuke Sato   THE LODGE. UK/USA – Dirs. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala    MYSTERY OF THE NIGHT. The Philippines – Dir. Adolfo Alix Jr.   SWALLOW. USA – Dir. Carlo Mirabella-Davis   WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES. Japan – Dir. Makoto Nagahisa   THE WRETCHED. USA – Dirs. Brett and Drew Pierce     The following industry professionals make up the Fantasia 2019 juries: CHEVAL NOIR Jury President: Annick Mahnert – Producer, Festival Programmer (Fantastic Fest, Sitges) Shaked Berenson – Producer, Member of the IFTA Board of Directors Amy Darling – Producer, Festival Organizer (Calgary Underground Film Festival) Miles Fineburg – Director of Acquisitions (Samuel Goldwyn Films) Maurizio Guarini – Composer (Goblin) NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE Jury President: Onur Tukel – Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Painter Jonathan Barkan – Editor-in-Chief (Dread Central) Susan Curran – COO (A71 Entertainment) Ariel Fisher – Critic (Atom Insider, Rue Morgue Magazine, Fangoria), Editor, Podcaster Kyle Greenberg – Director of Theatrical Marketing and Distribution (Gunpowder & Sky) INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION Jury President: Frederic Temps – Musician, Critic, Festival Director (Les Utopiales), Founder of L’Étrange Festival Kerensa Cadenas – Writer, Film Editor (Entertainment Weekly) Chelsea Lupkin – Director, Cinematographer, Producer, Senior Programmer and Writer (Short of the Week) Justin Timms – Co-Founder (Yellow Veil Pictures), Co-Festival Director (Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, North Bend Film Festival) AQCC - CAMERA LUCIDA  Andrew Todd – Writer (Birth. Movies. Death., Slashfilm), filmmaker, composer Donato Totaro – Professor, editor-in-chief (Offscreen) Elijah Baron – Film critic (24 Images), translator THE SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION Jury President: Diana Tapia Munguia – Production Assistant (Cinesite Studios), Marketing and PR Chair (Women in Animation Montreal) Alaska B – Drummer and Leader (Yamantaka // Sonic Titan) Julien Deragon – 3D Animator (RodeoFX)   ACTION!  Jean-Philippe Bernier – Cinematographer, Composer (Le Matos) Andy Bélanger – Comic Artist, Illustrator JF Lachapelle – Stuntman, Stunt Coordinator VIRTUAL REALITY Jury President: Erik Canuel – Director Martin Girard – Screenwriter, Critic (Le Devoir) RKSS – Directors, Screenwriters

Source: Birthmoviesdeath.com

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Fantasia (1940 film) • Fantasia (1940 film) • Camera lucida • Directors' Fortnight • Cannes Film Festival • Coming-of-age story • Supernatural • Trope (literature) • Science fiction • Adolescence • Drama • Innuendo • Adolescence • Large Hadron Collider • Large Hadron Collider • Choreography • Human body • Pear • Canada • Canada • Kazakhstan • Crepuscular • Kazakhstan • Auteur • Nightmare • And Your Bird Can Sing • Japan • Tasuku Emoto • Shōta Sometani • Coming-of-age story • Sleepless Nights (Never Let Her Go) • Restless Days (song) • Hakodate, Hokkaido • Japan • Canada • Paul Morrissey • Spain • Satoshi Saida • Avant-garde • Paul Morrissey • Hypnosis • Black and white • Canada • Sweden • Canada • France • Dystopia • Neverland • The Lost Boys • Love and Death • The Paragons (Charlotte band) • Cinema of France • Quebec • Spain • Ethiopia • Estonia • Jennifer Reeder • Philippines • South Korea • Camera lucida • Quebec • International Federation of Film Critics • Fantasia International Film Festival • Independent film • Fantasia International Film Festival • Do it yourself • Supernatural • The Deeper You Dig... • Family Affair • John Adams (composer) • Star Shoot • Film score • Underworld (band) • Magic (paranormal) • Ronald Guttman • Black magic • Black magic • Summer of Blood • Catfight (film) • Onur Tukel • Gentrification • New York City • Tribeca Film Festival • Black comedy • Misanthropy • Leah Shore • Jamie Block • Toad Road • Low-budget film • Montreal • Surreal humour • Drama • Mental disorder • Alternate history • SpongeBob SquarePants • Canada • Experimental film • Guy Maddin • Low-budget film • Monster movie • Lake Michigan • Monster • B movie • Monster movie • Independent film • Movie theater • Black and white • Special effect • Academy Award for Best Cinematography • Milwaukee • Fearless (Taylor Swift album) • Photojournalism • Al Adamson • Church of the SubGenius • Documentary film • Winnipeg • Fantasia (1940 film) • Sicilian Mafia • Photojournalism • Letizia Battaglia • American Mafia • Sundance Film Festival • Berlin • Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival • Kim Longinotto • Mafia • Quebec • Self-determination • Narrative • Hero • Art • Humour • History of Christianity • Church of the SubGenius • Parody religion • Mores • Existentialism • J. R. "Bob" Dobbs • Church of the SubGenius • Canadians • Ivan Stang • Church of the SubGenius • Richard Linklater • Nick Offerman • Penn Jillette • Devo • Gerald Casale • Reel Life (Boy Meets Girl album) • Al Adamson • Severin Films • Dave Gregory (musician) • Lost Soul (2014 film) • Richard Stanley (director) • The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film) • No budget film • Exploitation film • Filmmaking • California • Hollywood • Al Adamson • Orson Welles • Gary Graver • John Carradine • Charles Manson • Bande à part (film) • Anime • Bumper crop • Harvest • Anime • Empire of Japan • Fantasia (1940 film) • Axis powers • Masaaki Yuasa • Netflix • Devilman • Cry-Baby • Mind Game (film) • Amorphous solid • Out of This World (TV series) • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland • Fantasy • Anime • Adventure • Keiichi Hara • Colorful (film) • Miss Hokusai • Romance (love) • Ontology • Science fiction • Mecha • Feature film • Computer animation • Animation • Anime • Sega Genesis • Katsuyuki Motohiro • FLCL • Psycho-Pass • Media franchise • Afro Samurai • Cyberpunk • Anime • Thriller (genre) • Philosophical fiction • Barbarian • Techno • Horror fiction • Television in Canada • Uki, Kumamoto • Cencoroll • Fantasia (1940 film) • Surrealist cinema • Science fiction • Teen drama • Sequel • Cencoroll • Anime • Canada • Yutaka Yamamoto • Independent film • Romance (love) • Postcard • Fukushima Prefecture • Asian Americans • Omamori • Fantasia (1940 film) • Short film • Asian people • Animation • Fairy tale • Espionage • Spirit • Monster • Mystery fiction • Magic in fiction • Macabre • Japan • China • Taiwan • South Korea • Kenji Kawai • Durian • Japan • Master class • Tokusatsu • Keita Amemiya • Keita Amemiya • Zeiram • Tweeny Witches • Fictional universe • Tokusatsu • Japanese language • Science fantasy • Keita Amemiya • Fantasia (1940 film) • Garo (TV series) • Moonbow • Master class • Keita Amemiya • Mask • Fantasia (1940 film) • Concert • Film • Fantasia (1940 film) • Film criticism • Horror host • Joe Bob Briggs • Edward R. Pressman • Montreal • Horror film • Montreal • Concert • Concert • Studio Ghibli • Joe Bob Briggs • Blow the Roof • Fantasia (1940 film) • Trailer park • Joe Bob Briggs • Redneck • Hollywood • Exploitation film • Horror host • Edward R. Pressman • Cinema of the United States • Terrence Malick • Sam Raimi • Zhang Yimou • Brian De Palma • Edward R. Pressman • The Conversation • Conan the Barbarian (1982 film) • Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans • Fangoria • Michael Gingold • Horror Express • Fantasia International Film Festival • Montreal • Horror film • Ad nauseam • Fantasia International Film Festival • Fantasy • Guillermo del Toro • Spirit • The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction • Science fiction • Fantasy • David Gregory (journalist) • Severin Films • Arrow Films • Cellulose acetate film • B movie • Grails (band) • Fantasia (1940 film) • Television in Canada • Ted Kotcheff • Ted Kotcheff • Canada • Ted Kotcheff • Filmmaking • Toronto • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation • Wake in Fright • Thriller (genre) • Wake in Fright • Montreal • The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (film) • Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? • North Dallas Forty • Sylvester Stallone • Blockbuster (entertainment) • First Blood • Uncommon Valour • Joshua Then and Now (film) • Weekend at Bernie's • The Shooter (1995 film) • Ted Kotcheff • Canadian Film Centre • The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (film) • StudioCanal • First Blood • Ted Kotcheff • Alien (film) • Crystal Palace F.C. • France • Arielle Dombasle • Androgyny • Icon • Arielle Dombasle • Parapsychology • Kitsch • Kaleidoscope (1966 film) • Jean-Pierre Léaud • Asia Argento • United States • The Art of Self Defense (album) • Jesse Eisenberg • Karate • Toxic masculinity • Imogen Poots • South by Southwest • Quebec City • Out in L.A. • Vampire • Ménage à trois • Cocaine • Almost Human (Voltaire album) • Mental image • Heavy metal music • Euphoria • Tribeca Film Festival • Canada • Culture shock • Roberto Guerrero • Blumhouse Productions • Guerrero • United States • Mexico • Land of the Free (anthem) • Martha Higareda • Shawn Ashmore • Fantasia International Film Festival • Barbara Crampton • She-Ra: Princess of Power • Dance with Me (Drew Seeley song) • Japan • Shinobu Yaguchi • Jingle • Gene Kelly • Musical theatre • Shinobu Yaguchi • Swing Girls • Robo-G • Shanghai International Film Festival • Japan Cuts • Quebec • Ancient Egypt • Imaginary friend • Ancient Egypt • Thriller (genre) • South by Southwest • Sydney International • Canada • Japan • Biographical film • Cinema of Japan • Counterculture • Film • Kōji Wakamatsu • Film • Transgressive art • Cinematography • Canada • Japan • Whistleblower • Suicide • Outside the Law (2010 film) • Justice • Good and evil • Good and evil • Tragedy • Japan • Filmfest Hamburg • Canada • South Korea • Mob film • Body swap • Comedy film • Visual gag • Action film • Hawaii International Film Festival • Canada • Canada • Zach Lipovsky • Bruce Dern • Emile Hirsch • Amanda Crew • Thriller (genre) • Toronto International Film Festival • Utopiales • Quebec • Gin Tama • Made to Be Broken • Japan • Samurai • Gintoki Sakata • Temporary work • Manga • Anime • Academy Award for Best Costume Design • Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival • Japan • Nobuhiro Yamashita • Ninja World • Robot • Science fiction • Comedy-drama • WTF with Marc Maron • So Natural (album) • Udine • Far East • Canada • Harpoon • Canada • Rob Grant • Shipwreck • Rob Grant • Fantasia International Film Festival • Thriller film • Turbo Kid • Munro Chambers • International Film Festival Rotterdam • Chattanooga, Tennessee • Calgary Underground Film Festival • Quebec • Feud • Empire of Japan • Confidence trick • Feud • Cinema of Japan • Yūbari, Hokkaido • Japan • Tetsuya Nakashima • Occult • Clairvoyance • Bonkers (song) • Horror fiction • Hawaii International Film Festival • Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival • Canada • Australia • Mirrah Foulkes • Mia Wasikowska • Punch and Judy • Damon Herriman • Black comedy • Slapstick • Marionette • Drama • Morality play • Canada • Horror film • Riley Keough • Richard Armitage (actor) • Alicia Silverstone • Goodnight Mommy • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival • Canada • Sargasso Sea • Greece • Germany • Netherlands • Switzerland • Syllas Tzoumerkas • New Weird • Ancient Greek • Angeliki Papoulia • Dogtooth (film) • Alps (film) • Berlin International Film Festival • Canada • South Korea • Lady Cops • Seoul • Buddy cop film • Quebec • Hong Kong • Pang Ho-cheung • Breast milk • Hong Kong • Political correctness • Pang Ho-cheung • Vulgaria (film) • Dream Home • Osaka • Asian people • Quebec City • Zombie • South Korea • The Living Corpse • Sildenafil • Zombie comedy • Zombie • Udine • New York Asian Film Festival • Canada • Paradise Hills, San Diego • Spain • Emma Roberts • Awkwafina • Eiza González • Danielle Macdonald • Milla Jovovich • Allegory • Femininity • Norm (social) • Picnic at Hanging Rock • The Handmaid's Tale • Arundhati Roy • Canada • Succubus • Murder in Mind (TV series) • Bible • Thumpers • South by Southwest • Canada • Revenge • Denmark • Christoffer Boe • Cinema of Denmark • Blockbuster (entertainment) • Jussi Adler-Olsen • Crime fiction • Sitges Film Festival • Transilvania International Film Festival • Palm Springs International Film Festival • Canada • Haley Bennett • Tribeca Film Festival • Neuchâtel • Canada • Tokyo Ghoul • Japan • Tokyo • Horror fiction • Manga • Los Angeles • Anime Expo • Canada • Russia • Kirill Sokolov • Moscow • Kirill Sokolov • Black comedy • Ultraviolence (album) • Nahum Sokolow • Pressure cooking • Canada • South Korea • Korean Seon • Spirit • Horror film • Korea • VHS • Canada • Fantasia (1940 film) • South Africa • Japan • Yuya Ishii (director) • South Korea • Kim Yoon-seok • Brazil • South Korea • Lee Su-jin (director) • WKND (album) • Spain • Japan • Tetsuya Nakashima • Japan • Shinsuke Sato • Philippines • Adolfo Alix Jr. • Japan • Fantasia Barrino • Film producer • Fantastic Fest • Sitges Film Festival • Irish Film & Television Academy • Calgary Underground Film Festival • Samuel Goldwyn Films • Maurizio Guarini • Goblin (band) • Onur Tukel • Screenwriter • Editing • Dread Central • A71 road • Atom (standard) • Rue Morgue (magazine) • Fangoria • Podcast • Marketing • Distribution (business) • Gunpowder • Short film • Utopiales • Film editing • Entertainment Weekly • Chelsea, Manhattan • Cinematographer • Film producer • B movie • Screenwriter • Brooklyn (film) • Horror film • North Bend, Washington • Camera lucida • Andrew Todd (businessman) • /Film • Filmmaking • Composer • Editing • Film criticism • 24 images • Satoshi Kon • Animation • Cinesite • Women in Animation • Montreal • Alaska • Yamantaka // Sonic Titan • 3D film • Animator • Cinematographer • Composer • Illustrator • Stunt performer • Stunt coordinator • Virtual reality • Screenwriter • Le Devoir • Film director •